Putting off Games is right thing to do

Postponing the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games until 2021 was unavoidable given the growth of the coronavirus pandemic gripping the world, but it is a rational decision that will hopefully ensure fairness for all athletes taking part.

Now efforts should shift to organising the Olympics next year in an environment that is safe for not just the athletes but all officials and spectators expected from around the globe.

Even as the International Olympic Committee said early last week that the Games would go ahead as planned, it was becoming clear this would be impossible. There was no prospect that the pandemic would subside by July so that Japan, even if it manages to get its domestic outbreak under control, could welcome a huge crowd of spectators to the Olympics.

Pressure from athletes and sports organisations worldwide was building on the IOC to postpone the Games. The pandemic has deprived the athletes of a chance to prepare for the Olympics in optimum conditions. Other international sports events have been called off, and the cancellation of qualifying events have left the selection of more than 40% of the about 11,000 athletes who are expected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics undetermined. Holding the Olympics this year would have been unfair as it would have deprived many athletes of a level playing field.

Still, the unprecedented task of rescheduling the Olympic Games — which have been cancelled five times in its 124-year history, each time due to war, including the 1940 Olympics that were to be held in Tokyo — will involve enormous challenges. First among them will be ensuring that the Covid-19 pandemic is contained by the time the Olympics are held, a task the accomplishment of which is far from guaranteed. /Tokyo, March 26

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